Kindle Letdown
February 10th, 2009
I was hoping for a lot more than this:
I certainly hoped the Kindle 2 would be a LOT less than $359. It also seems like it wastes a huge amount of real estate on the keyboard, a rarely used feature in a reading device. A soft iPhone-like keyboard would be great.
I plan to wait for the Kindle 3. At the rate technology evolves, I expect them to create my dream device at my dream price in a few years.
Take another look at that picture. If you compare the area of the text on one of the pages of the book, it almost perfectly matches the screen size of the kindle, when you take the margin into account.
Tom, Amazon claims a 6″ diagonal on the screen. A standard paperback page is more like an 8″ diagonal.
Why the two buttons in your Kindle prototype? Soft buttons for it, too!
Yeah, I wasn’t sure about those two buttons. My design team is performing extensive usability studies as I type this.
Loving the new font — MUCH better than the previous one (Tekton?).
Now you just need the arrows to have a slightly more hand-drawn look, and you’re all set. =)
The disadvantages of soft keys are that touch screens are more expensive and that your screen gets dirty, making reading a bit more difficult.
I also think that physical buttons are stronger and as such a better option for often used functions; I’d make the back/next/home buttons physical in stead of soft to protect the screen.
The rest of the keyboard can be soft; you won’t be writing all that much on it I think.
you’re not alone.
http://www.baekdal.com/future/products/amazon-kindle-2-3/
My UI design team found out that it needs an ON/OFF button. One button will do. Separate buttons for ON and OFF are not required. Although they might be good for maintaining symmetry.
Also, the text “I guess it needs a few more buttons?” is not required to be printed on by ALL the users we surveyed. Most of them were of the opinion that if it is deemed really necessary by ERIC then it could be made “SOFT” as well.
Cheers.